PART VII RETURN TO WORK AND REHABILITATION — Obligation to re-employ

This section applies only to an employer and a worker who had been in an employment relationship for a continuous period of one year immediately prior to the date of the worker's injury.

This section does not apply to an employer who regularly employs fewer than 20 workers.

The commission may determine the following matters on its own initiative or shall determine them if a worker and an employer disagree about the fitness of the worker to return to work:

where the worker has not returned to work with the employer, whether the worker is medically able to perform the essential duties of the worker's pre-injury employment or to perform suitable work; and re-employ the worker in the position that the worker held on the date of injury; or 2 years after the date of disability; levy a penalty on the employer not exceeding the amount of the worker's net average earnings for the 12 months immediately preceding the beginning of the loss of earnings as a result of the injury; and

where the commission has previously determined that the worker is medically able to perform suitable work, whether the worker is medically able to perform the essential duties of the worker's pre-injury employment. provide the worker with alternative employment of a nature and at earnings comparable to the worker's employment on the date of injury. one year after the worker is medically able to perform the essential duties of the worker's pre-injury employment; and make payments to the worker for a maximum of one year as if the worker were entitled to payments under section 83.

When a worker is medically able to perform the essential duties of the worker's pre-injury employment, an employer to whom this section applies shall offer to

When a worker is medically able to perform suitable work but is unable to perform the essential duties of the worker's pre-injury employment, an employer to whom this section applies shall offer the worker the first opportunity to accept suitable employment that may become available with the employer.

An employer to whom this section applies shall modify the workplace and the work to accommodate the worker to the extent that the accommodation does not cause the employer undue hardship.

An employer is obligated under this section until the earliest of,

the date on which the worker reaches 65 years of age.

W here an employer re-employs a worker in accordance with this section and then terminates the employment within 6 months, the employer is presumed not to have fulfilled the employer's obligations under this section.

An employer may rebut the presumption in subsection (9) by showing that the termination of the worker's employment was not related to the injury.

Upon the request of a worker or on its own initiative, the commission shall determine whether an employer has fulfilled the employer's obligations to the worker under this section.

The commission is not required to consider a request under subsection (11) by a worker who has been re-employed and whose employment is terminated within 6 months where the request is made more than 3 months after the date of termination of employment.

Where the commission decides that an employer has not fulfilled the employer's obligations to a worker, the commission may

A penalty payable under subsection (13) is an amount owing to the commission and may be added to the employer's assessment and payment enforced under section 140.

Where this section conflicts with a collective agreement that is binding upon an employer, and the employer's obligations under this section give a worker greater re-employment terms than does the collective agreement, this section prevails over the collective agreement.

Subsection (15) shall not operate to displace the seniority provisions of a collective agreement.

This section shall only apply in respect of an injury to a worker which occurred on or after January 1, 2002.